Related Articles: October 14, 2017

 

To my lovely readers,

I apologize for my absence last week. I finally moved all of my belongings into my Brooklyn home! I'm writing to you from my bed, since I still have yet to get a desk, and I'm tired. But it's a Friday night so I won't be spending it in bed (if I felt like it I would, but I've spent so much time at home healing, I'm ready to join the world again). Tonight I'm off to Kristi's for a housewarming party in her Bushwick loft. You know her from the amazing Marilyn Minter piece she wrote a few months back. Yep. We're reunited and it feels so good. 

That's how I feel about the majority of my friendships that are being rekindled here in the city. I've missed them dearly, and not only do I get to see my friends, but I get to make new ones and meet new people too. 

A lot of shit has happened in the world this past week. I can't even. I get so mad just thinking about it. So read these things, and maybe message me or leave a comment if you wanna talk about them.

If I wasn't so eager to go out I would write more, but I wanna go. So I'll write to you again next week, probably something more thoughtful and commenting on the break that I needed to take for my health.

xo Sarah

"Our Femininity Isn't Artificial" by Kaitlin Burns for Bitch Media - This piece is so important. While we shouldn't restrict trans actors to just trans roles, casting a cis actor to play a trans woman sends mixed and hurtful messages to audiences, and often results in a performance that doesn't resonate with real trans people. This piece was amazingly eye-opening.

 

"Gloria Allred's Crusade" by Jia Tolentino for The New Yorker - This is a great profile on a relentless lawyer fighting for human rights across the country. She's inspiring, and it's a great read on one of the lower-profile public feminist activists. You know her from the Cosby trial, and for suing 45 three days before the inauguration on behalf of the women he sexually assaulted. She's amazing. 

 

"Hugh Hefner, A Force For Good? Discuss." by Jennifer Schuessler for The New York Times I had mixed emotions about the passing of Hugh Hefner this past week. While I have always admired is business savvy and brand-building ways, I've also always taken issue with his objectification of women, which also was juxtaposed against his love of women who were more than just objects. He genuinely respected women, while objectifying them. It's a weird place to think about. Anyway, this was a great roundtable discussion about Playboy and Heff, and the legacy that we are left with now that he's gone. 

 

"How The Kardashian's Reflect Changing Ideas Around Plastic Surgery" by Zan Romanoff for Buzzfeed I have mixed emotions about this piece, but it offers an interesting discussion about pain, beauty, and celebrity. I personally take issue with this being a topic of discussion at all when Kim Kardashian has so much more to offer, but I see some quality points about the myth of beauty in here. 

 

"Why So Many Women Cheat On Their Husbands" by Kim Brooks for The Cut - Okay, so there are several connotations in this article that I don't like, like "so many" women. It's not like the number is 80%. Calm down. Second, why are we assuming that they only cheat on their husbands and not on their wives? Come on, stop reinforcing heteronormativity in that way. The headline could have read, "Why Some Women Cheat" and it would have been a much more accurate description of the fascinating article that this piece is.

 

"Decades of Sexual Harassment Accusations Against Harvey Weinstein" by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey for The New York Times This. Is. So. Upsetting. I hate men who use their position of power to take advantage of women who need their help. As stated in the article, "The balance of power is me: 0, Harvey Weinstein: 10." Read this to hear about Hollywood's latest sexist scandal. 

 

"The Millennial Walt Disney" by Anna Wiener for Select All - I've been really intrigued by the "experience" lately. Everyone knows the Museum of Ice Cream, and this is a great feature on its young creator. 

 

"Should Women Make Their Own Music Canon?" by Wesley Morris for The New York Times - This was a fun thought piece, while too long and posing a great question that should be asked and written about by women. So if you want some fun music thoughts on women and how they get written out of music history and playlists, peep this article.

 

"The Problem with our "Good" Men" by Sady Doyle for Elle - This response to the abuse of power that Harvey Weinstein used against women is a good one. It almost hurts more because he was a faux champion of women's rights and equality. But you know the worst part? The company knew about these allegations and did nothing about it. *Sigh*

 

"Mr. Trump's Attack on Birth Control" by The Editorial Board at The New York Times - This has been an upsetting two weeks and in the midst of international terror, the clown of a president has once again been using those distractions to take advantage of the American people. He single handedly just made it possible for employers to refuse to provide birth control coverage. This piece covers why it's one of the worst things he could have done in regard to women's reproductive health. 

 

"Lena Dunham: Losing Birth Control Could Mean a Lifetime of Pain" by Lena Dunham for The New York Times - I'm bringing this one back from June just to reiterate the importance of what has just happened regarding the article above. 

 

"The New Midlife Crisis" by Ada Calhoun for Oprah - While I am not a middle aged woman, I found this read to be absolutely fascinating. While women have more choices than ever, it also means there's more pressure than ever to live our best lives. It's resulting in interesting emotional and life changing perspectives in 40+ year old women and this piece has a lot of insight. 

 

"Why I'm Snitching On Hollywood Sexism" by Daley Haggar for Lenny Letter - Just another commentary on the outrageous sexual harassment that happens even in the funniest of industries. *sigh*

 

"Lena Dunham: Harvey Weinstein and the Silence of Men" by Lena Dunham for The New York Times And another! When Lena Dunham writes, no matter how problematic, people listen. 

 

"Reina Gossett on Transgender Storytelling, David France, and the Netflix Marsha P. Johnson Documentary" by Reina Gossett for Teen Vogue The idea that trans people should be the ones to tell their stories is not a revolutionary one, but must be said again and again like Reina does in this op-ed. It's a great read on how even within the LBGTQ+ community, there is still bias and transphobia, particularly against black trans people. 

 

"Stop Mentioning Your Daughters When You Denounce Harvey Weinstein" by Hunter Harris for Vulture - *Drops Mic* A LITTLE LOUDER FOR THE MEN IN THE BACK. 

 

"Workplace Etiquette FAQ for Harvey Weinstein or Any Other Giant Piece of Shit" by Full Frontal for Medium - Samantha Bee does it again with this outrageous and completely honest and truthful FAQ about workplace sexual harassment. It's fucking ridiculous that this had to be written in a comedic way at all *eyeroll*

 

"Meet The New York Times's First Gender Editor" by Brittney McNamara for Teen Vogue - I AM SCREAMING!! The Gender Editor for the NYT is none other than Jessica Bennett!!! I met her a few weeks ago and we had a great chat about content creation and her career. I am so excited for her as she takes up editing content across the entire publication, because gender ideas can't be contained. 

 

For lots of other good reads, go here.

 
Sarah Sickles